MTA reopens (old) South Ferry Station

MTA New York City Transit's old South Ferry Station reopened for business at 5:00 a.m. Thursday, re-establishing a subway-ferry transfer point severed since Hurricane Sandy flooded large portions of lower Manhattan late last October.

The old station, decommissioned in 2009, will serve as an interim measure while MTA wrestles with restoring its replacement station, also inundated by Sandy. Restoring the newer station could take at least three years.

MTA last month committed to reopening the old station, at a cost of $2 million. The station area is a key intermodal link between city subway service and the Staten Island ferry.

The old station has several drawbacks. They include curved platforms far shorter than train lengths, both disrupting smooth passenger flows. The old station also did not comply with requirements specified by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Some upgrades have been made, however. MTA crews have built a new entrance, installed new lighting, and added a closed-circuit television system, with monitors over the curved platform, so train crew can better view their surroundings.